The Phillies Zone

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Last winter, Scott Boras accused the Phillies of backing away from an agreed-upon contract with Ryan Madson. This winter, the superagent represents Michael Bourn, one of the top outfielders on the market and certainly of interest to the Phillies.

Bourn is also a potential target of the Washington Nationals, a team with which Boras has brokered a great deal of recent business. He represents five clients on the Nationals' roster while only one, Domonic Brown, is with the Phillies.

When asked if any hard feelings between the Phillies and he could affect future negotiations, Boras touted his professionalism.

"I approach negotiations with all teams as I have a job to do for my clients," Boras said. "I don't bring emotion into it. My job is to find out what teams want to do and how they want to do it. I approach it as a lawyer for each client. I don't bring any circuitry regarding my personal feelings or anything into it. My job is to inform the client what is potentially available.

"I've been through 30 years of this and free agency is difficult. It's pressured. General managers will win and lose their jobs often in free agency. We've seen that. It's a difficult time for them, I understand. I don't make their decisions. But the one thing I am, I'm professional and available. Personal relationships to me are not as important as the professional relationships."

Of course, it's not the first time the Phillies and Boras disagreed. In 1997, Boras advised J.D. Drew not to accept a $3 million contract as the second overall draft pick. Business between the team and agent eventually continued.